In his most recent column, Grantland's Bill Simmons made this case for including Ricky Rubio in the 2012 All-Star game:

It's the All-Star Game. It's supposed to be fun. As I have written roughly 10 million times, the quality of an All-Star Game ebbs and flows with the passing DNA of the point guards. This year's game is in relatively good hands (Paul and Nash for the West, Rose for the East), but you can't tell me that Ricky Rubio — a player blessed by no less than Larry Legend in my podcast this week as someone Bird's watching "every night" — wouldn't improve the game by 10 to 15 percent. Having an NBA All-Star Game without Ricky Rubio is like having a hot dog without mustard or ketchup.

Meanwhile, tonight's game at Target Center features two of the NBA's most exciting new talents: Ricky "El Kid" Rubio vs. Jeremy "Linsanity" Lin (New York Knicks).